Vehicle door constructions typically feature a metal door frame with a sheet metal outer panel or skin that defines the door's exterior and an inner sheet metal panel secured to the door frame. Various door components, including window regulator rails, audio speakers, latches, and the like, are fastened in openings defined in the inner sheet metal panel. Covering the inner door panel is a removable trim panel that provides an aesthetically pleasing facade viewed by occupants seated in the passenger cabin of the motor vehicle. Controls are provided on the trim panel for devices such as seats, door locks, mirror and windows. The door latch is connected by a cable to an inner release handle on the trim panel accessible to the vehicle occupant.
Light emitting sources are positioned at convenient locations inside the vehicle passenger cabin. The light emitting sources are used to illuminate one or more portions of the vehicle interior at strategic times. For example, a light emitting source in the passenger cabin may illuminate the device controls on the door trim panel.
A decorative and protective speaker grille covers the audio speaker and is typically removably attached by a snap fit with the audio speaker. Conventional speaker grilles are not illuminated and, therefore, are not visible to an occupant of the passenger cabin under low-lighting conditions, such as early evening or dusk, and darkness caused by storms during the daytime and the like.
What is needed therefore is a speaker grille construction that improves on conventional speaker grille constructions.